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YOUNG PEOPLE'S HALF-HOUR SERIES. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND 



By Prf b/rIDGAWAY, D.D. 



NEW YOEK: 
NELSON & PHILLIPS 

CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEK 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. 



jQz 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

NELSON & PHILLIPS, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND 



A STRONG desire (August 26, 1870) to push on and 
have as much time as possible among the mountains of 
Switzerland led us to take a through train from Freiburg, 
Germany, to Lucerne, stopping in Basle only long enough 
to make connections. Having an hour to wait, we drove 
from the station, over the Rhine, to the old part of the 
town, and had time for a glimpse at the Cathedral and the 
Museum. The Museum contains some very noted paint- 
ings : among them an original likeness of Erasmus, by 
Holbein; one of Luther, by Cranach ; and also a picture 
of marvelous power — " Christ ready for the Tomb " — by 
Holbein. 

The view of the city from the bridge, looking either 
way, but especially toward the west, is very satisfactory, 
giving an effect more peculiar than that of any other city 
we had yet seen. After some delay, our train started for 
Lucerne. Coming to the scene of the detention, we found 
two " goods " trains had collided at Bretten, and rendered 
the track impassable. Locomotives and cars were pitched 
together in awful confusion. As it is human nature to 
take a little comfort at other people's misfortunes, we felt 
a glum satisfaction that America wasn't the only country 
of railroad accidents. At Waldshut, south end of Baden, 
we were detained for three hours, and as we looked out 



6 Ten Days in Switzeeland. 

there seemed no compensation whatever for the inconven- 
ience. But it is a rare spot in Europe, especially on the 
Continent, if something cannot be seen and learned within 
three hours that will render the time well spent. We 
found here a village such as we had met nowhere else, and 
seeing it, we had a type of the villages and towns of the 
Middle Ages, designed at once for residence and defense. 
In the form of a rectangle, w T ith massive gates at both 
ends, and the houses fronting inward, face to face, with but 
one broad street, and drinking-foun tains, etc., all were so 
constructed as to be shut in and to stand a siege from an 
opposing enemy. Just beyond the village there is a beau- 
tiful view of the Rhine. Ten o'clock at night brought us 
into the spacious station at Zurich, and a short drive to 
Hotel Baur an Lach, a superb house, situated immediately 
npon the lake, the waters dancing at its very foundations. 
This hotel is one of the most eligibly located, and one of 
the best in its appointments in all Switzerland. 

The next morning w r e found the Rev. Mr. Achard, Pas- 
tor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, through whose 
attentions and those #f the Rev. Mr. Eby, of the Canada 
Wesley an Conference, who had been studying in Switzer- 
land to prepare himself for the German and French work 
in Canada, we received every facility for a rapid and in- 
telligent view of Zurich. First of all, but not least won- 
derful, the Methodist Mission Building was examined — a 
substantial property, with a large chapel and all the accom- 
modations for the pastor, and a thorough-working Church. 
From the Polytechnic School, situated on a high hill, we 
had an admirable bird's-eye view of the city, Lake Zurich, 
and the adjacent mountains. The day was raw and cloudy, 
the horizon consequently circumscribed, and the feelings 
correspondingly chilled for out-door sight-seeing ; but 
within doors we saw enough to have detained us clays and 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 7 

weeks with undiminished pleasure. Zurich, too, has its 
Cathedral — the scene, as Zurich Canton was the field, of 
Zwingle's triumphs. Near by is the house where the great 
Reformer lived. We did not enter it, but stood on the 
threshold where so often the most tolerant of all the 
Reformers was wont to go in and out. We descended to 
the Water Church, as it is called, from its being originally 
located on an island where three martyrs suffered. There 
we saw many old and rare treasures in statuary, painting, 
armor, manuscripts, books, glass, etc. A sort of Protestant 
shrine is this old church, with many things about it to 
make you feel you are battling over again for the faith of 
the Fathers. Two modern things here are well worth 
seeing — models of the Alps. These models, especially 
the larger one, are exact representations of the whole 
mountain and lake region, and, by studying them closely, 
this "world wonder" can be thoroughly understood and 
enjoyed. Before going through and after going through 
the Alps, one should see these facsimiles. The advantage 
of the most perfect object-teaching is thus obtained. The 
several mountains, passes, lakes, etc., are indelibly fixed on 
the memory. 

We had read of John Caspar Lavater till touched with 
a passion for the man, and so must, of all things, set eyes 
on St. Peter's and its parsonage. The old church, built 
first in 808, remodeled in 1765, will seat about two thou- 
sand persons, and is devoid of any architectural beauty or 
peculiarity. In the chancel, at one side, is a memorial 
tablet of Lavater, with a profile likeness by Pfenninger, 
and a tribute in Latin to the worth of the great preacher 
and poet. Across the narrow street, a little back, is the 
parsonage, a very respectable-looking house, and since 
1800 held sacred by hosts of admirers as having been hal- 
lowed by the thoughts and piety of John and Anna Lava- 



8 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

ter. The study is at the head of the first flight of stairs, 
and remains as it was when Lavater occupied it. It is 
finished in oak, ceiling low, windows narrow, but has an 
air of exquisite cosiness and neatness. The present occu- 
pant, H. Hirzel, Deacon of St. Peter's, received us very 
cordially, spoke of his interest in America, and said he 
expected to visit the Evangelical Alliance Conference in 
New York had it not been postponed. There were few 
men to whom the cause of evangelical Protestantism 
owed more in the last half of the eighteenth century than 
to Lavater. His sermons and addresses, both spoken and 
printed, and his poems, were an inspiration to preachers 
and people, and their influence still lives wherever the 
German tongue is known. 

After lunch we took the train to Lucerne, abandoning 
the route by Righi, as the weather was too thick for ascend- 
ing the mountains or enjoying the sail on the lakes. We 
had to forego a look at that island on to which William 
Tell sprang, and so escaped the Austrian tyrant, Gesler. 
Perhaps we thus avoided spoiling a boyish imagination. 
But as so many boy is]} dreams must inevitably vanish into 
disappointment as years roll away, may be it was as well 
to have this one undisturbed. We were sorry to miss the 
ascent of Pighi and the magnificent panorama from its 
summit, and also the famous views to be had in gliding 
over the waters of Lakes Zurich and Lucerne; but we 
were so unfortunate as to have such bad weather as would 
have made the journey wholly useless. 

The first object which arrested attention in the morning, 
at Lucerne, was a funeral procession, moving quietly up 
the street near the hotel to an adjoining Catholic church. 
The Canton of Lucerne is as decidedly Roman Catholic as is 
that of Zurich Protestant. A youth had died. The body 
was borne to the portico of the church ; there, surrounded 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 9 

by a circle of priests and mourners, a short prayer was ut- 
tered, it was sprinkled with holy water, and then borne away, 
while the whole company entered the church and mass was 
celebrated. From the site of the old church and its burial- 
ground, an eminence overlooking the lake, the scene that 
morning was to a stranger just coming to Switzerland in 
the heats of summer exceedingly vivid — around, the city, 
with its contrast of quaint odd-gabled houses and modern 
hotels ; beneath, and stretching away, the waters of the 
lake, of deepest blue ; and beyond, and towering aloft, the 
mountains enveloped with mist, which, like scarfs loosely 
worn by lovely maidens, half concealed their majestic 
brows, or, capped with the freshly-fallen snow of the night, 
reminded one of gray-headed old men looking down upon 
and smiling among a group of sportive youths. We saw 
the lion. This is the object in Lucerne : Thorwalclsen's 
great lion, carved, as the guide-book says, in the " living 
rock." It is a monument to the Swiss Guards of Louis 
XVI., who were massacred at Paris on August 10, 1792. 
The lion is of colossal size, and is represented as dying 
amid weapons and armorial bearings. The stretch of the 
paw, the aspect of the eyes, give the very death-struggle. 
The effect is heightened by the romantic surroundings — 
the deep projecting rocks and pool of water forming a 
sort of grotto, which imparts the solitary and awful feeling 
which associates itself with death. 

In addition to the charms of scenery to detain us at 
Lucerne, what was our surprise to meet at the Schweizer- 
hoff choice friends from New York, with whom we had 
last parted in London. They had come from Interlaken, 
whither we were going. To have lingered on the shores 
of the most beautiful of lakes with such company would 
indeed have been doubly agreeable ; but time was our 
master and must be obeyed, and so we pushed forward on 



10 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

our journey. We were able to engage one of the carriages, 
by which our friends had come, at reasonable rates, and 
consequently selected a private rather than a public convey- 
ance. The ordinary stage route would have taken us by 
boat as far as Stansstad, and thence by diligence to Lake 
Brientz. We thought we would enjoy the lake more viewed 
from the shore, and in going over the Bruneg Pass would 
have better command of time and position in our own con- 
veyance. Accordingly we set off behind two as sturdy 
and nimble-footed little wmite ponies as one could wish to 
see. Our driver was French, quiet and polite, ready to 
answer all questions and to oblige in every possible way. 
The road lay near the brink of the lake as far as Alpnacht, 
winding with every turn of the capricious waters, running 
under shelving rocks, and every foot smooth and firm as 
ingenuity and industry could make it. The rain-elouds, 
with occasional showers, were our only drawback. As we 
drove off, Mount Pilatus was full in sight on our right. 
On, on, to the right and to the left, one hour, two hours, 
a dozen miles away, and to the question, " Driver, what 
mountain is that?" u Old Pilatus." Nothing is more 
deceiving than the distances of great mountains. As we 
were late in starting, it was soon time, as the Yankees say, 
to u bait" our horses. What was our wonder and amaze- 
ment to see the driver cut up for them two veritable loaves 
of bread. Baked bread for horses ! The theory was, it is 
less heating, more quickly digested, better for rapid travel 
than grain. 

We began now to get fully among the mountains, and 
into the heart of real Swiss scenery, not only in the topog- 
raphy of the country, but also in the general aspects of 
peasant life. A slender valley, between towering mount- 
ains, whose sides were covered with verdure and tops with 
mist and snow — snug little cottages grouped in villages by 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 11 

the roadside, or perched hither and yon on some slope or 
peak, formed the prevailing outline. The Swiss cottage 
is larger as it ascends from the ground — usually gable to 
the front— the lower story mostly for animals, the projec- 
tions forming a shelter for them, the roof being kept down, 
in addition to fastenings, by huge stones. Sometimes they 
have pretty carvings about the doors or cornices, but are 
seldom painted. The abundance of flax seen around shows 
that home manufactures for clothing are common. Along 
the road, up and down the mountain sides, men, women, 
and children — mostly women — may be seen carrying bur- 
dens in or on a peculiar sort of deep basket or bucket ad- 
justed to the back. "Water, wood, grain, hay, are thus 
borne. Sometimes a woman at a little distance will look 
like a huge hay-shock. The children become burden-bear- 
ers as soon as they are able to work at all ; hence the 
people are great climbers, capable of going up and dowm 
vast heights with little or no fatigue. The women, how- 
ever, show the sad effects. While the men are tolerably 
good looking, and the children quite beautiful, the 
women, despite their picturesque bodices and mutton-leg 
sleeves and universal tidiness, are wretchedly ugly. The 
shepherds' cots, pitched aloft on crags like crows' nests, 
are exceedingly pleasing. There the shepherds with their 
flocks spend the summer, descending to the valleys in the 
autumn. Cheese is a staple production of the region. 

At Lungern, where the ascent to the Pass first becomes 
decidedly steep, we dined and rested. We were late, but 
got a good meal. It is not uncommon for a hundred guests 
to dine there any day. Lungern lake, like a little beauty, 
lay quietly nestled near by our hotel. Just as oar horses 
had got into the walk up the mountain it was discovered 
an umbrella had been left behind ; the driver instantly ran 
back and we rode on. lie was a long time overtaking us. 



12 Ten Days in Switzeeland. 

The Pass was desolate enough, with nothing civilized 
looking bnt the road, as np and around like a serpent 
it wound, so that thoughts of robbers, spirits, and awful 
desolations began to plague the minds of some of us. A 
poor stroller that chanced to meet us looked as though he 
might be ready for any plunder. The voice of our 
coucher ahead, at the brow of the Pass, was a welcome 
sound ; by a near cut he had got beyond us. Our fears 
were gone, our laborious ascent over ; and now the descent, 
with its locks and whirls, was eagerly anticipated and as 
richly enjoyed. Down we glided, turning short curves, 
rounding deep chasms, and dashing athwart rushing cata- 
racts, without alarm, for by this time we had all confidence 
in driver, beasts, vehicle, and ourselves. Experience 
and exhilaration had made us brave. Never can the 
scene be forgotten as the valley of Meyringen stretched 
out beneath us. Like bridal vails, innumerable cascades 
fell from the lofty heights over against us, gracefully 
waving, dropping, and dissolving upon the rocks ; the 
river Aar shot along in its silvery course, confined by arti- 
ficial banks, until lost yi the Lake of Brienz ; and the lake 
itself glistened like a sea of glass. The whole effect was 
heightened by one of those turns of good fortune which 
often come to the traveler. All day our joy had been 
dampened by the clouds and the rain. At the very nick 
of time, as the sun was nearly down and we had come to 
the best part of our ride, he burst out in all his splendor, 
shooting golden lances np the valley and over mountain 
and lake, which created a picture such as no poet or painter 
could depict. 

Arrived at the little village of Brienz, noted for its 
manufactures in wooden fancy articles, we had to do as 
all travelers do, examine every thing and buy — something. 
The temptation to purchase these little cunning wares is 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 13 

well-nigh, irresistible ; the sooner, however, resistance is 
learned the better. A good rule is, buy only what you 
can carry along with yon. Night was now closing about 
us, so we were obliged to hasten on without visiting 
Geissback Falls. These falls, although very trifling as 
to volume of water, are rendered exceedingly beautiful 
at night by a system of artificial illumination. It was 
Saturday evening, and we could not pause. Through the 
darkness we found our way into Interlaken, and, amid 
the noise and spray of playing fountains, were landed at 
the Hotel du Belvidere, where, by good luck, the house 
was not crowded, and we obtained eligible front rooms 
from which we could anticipate a full and early view of 
" Jungfrau," the great attraction of the locality. 

The next morning was cool and clear, cool enough for a 
fire ; but the transparent air compensated for all inconven- 
iences. The first look upon rising was for the Young Bride, 
the beautiful mountain which lay directly opposite bur 
window ; and there she was, far away to be sure, but dis- 
tinct in her loveliness, capped with snow, suffused with 
rosy tints, quietly and grandly resting between the Schy- 
nige-platte on one side and the Morgenberg on the other, 
these covered with green, and others forming fitting side 
curtains or columnar supports for the blushing beauty. 
Although photographs had rendered the view quite famil- 
iar, yet familiarity in no sense subtracted from the pleasure 
of the scene when actually gazed upon. It was not sur- 
prising that the spot from which such a wonder of nature 
could be enjoyed should have been selected from time im- 
memorial as a place of resort ; that upon it the monks of 
olden time, with an eye ever to the beautiful, and also 
those seeking the entertainment of the public, should have 
fastened. This immediate plateau is not over a mile in 
length, if so long, and is covered with fine hotels, capable 



14. Ten Days in Switzerland. 

of accommodating two thousand visitors, perhaps ; hotels 
which for excellence are equal to any in Europe. 

Interlaken, or Interlachen, as the name signifies, lies on a 
flat between Lakes Brienz and Thun, through which the Aar 
flows, and was once very unhealthy, but by successful drain- 
age has become as healthful as it is beautiful. It has no im- 
portance except as a summer resort. Centrally located, it is 
a good point to engage guides, hacks, mules, etc., for the 
Bernese Oberland. Here connections can be made in all 
directions. It is also a favorite place to stay for rest, as its 
surroundings are tranquillizing, and, within short distances, 
aflbrd all sorts of agreeable diversions. So soon as breakfast 
was over, we found near by, in a room of the old castle, 
Protestant worship. We were glad to join the group of 
devout believers. The sermon was by a clergyman of the 
Scotch Presbyterian Church, who had been detailed to this 
chapel for one month. The very best ministers are thus 
selected, who spend the whole or part of their vacation in 
supplying these chapels for the summer season. It is a 
good plan, and one which might well be imitated in 
America, at least at sojne of our watering-places, where 
the population cannot support regular ministrations. How 
grateful is God's holy day in a strange land ! how grateful 
the opportunity of worshiping in one's own tongue, and 
listening to divine truth from lips which speak familiar 
words! That little congregation, gathered from every 
corner where English is spoken, though of divers creeds, 
felt themselves to be one in Christ Jesus, and realized in a 
measure the preciousness of that common faith which sep- 
arates all believers from the world and constitutes them 
the family of God. The one broad avenue during the 
afternoon was thronged with the people of the place in 
their quaint costumes, and with visitors leisurely strolling 
or riding hither and thither. The walk by the banks of 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 15 

the Aar, also to a new hotel on an eminence opposite 
overlooking the valley, seemed to be much taken. 

On Monday we drove to the Grindelwald Glaciers. Enter- 
ing the valley of Liitschine, our course lay up toward Lau- 
terbrunnen. Our time would not admit of visiting both 
Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, and so, where the roads 
fork, we had to give up seeing the Staubbach Falls, a 
ribbon-like cascade of immense height, and turning to 
the left, pursued our way amid the overhanging rocks, 
with the Jungfrau, Wetterhorn, and other great mount- 
ains constantly in sight, until we reached the little hotel at 
Grindelwald. In passing we were importuned to purchase 
all sorts of articles and inferior fruits. We were, however, 
quite entertained by an Alpine horn. A man blew a huge 
long horn which rested upon the ground. Its blasts were 
not very musical; but the echoes were numerous and 
pleasing as one by one, and then confusedly blending, they 
came floating back from distant gorges. The lower 
glacier was quite a distance from the hotel, too far and too 
difficult for most American ladies to walk, so one of our 
ladies took a horse, and the other, as she was too timid to 
ride and unable to walk, concluded to remain at the hotel. 
Around we went by the mule-path, when, reaching the little 
shanty at the mouth of the glacier, out popped our other 
lady. She had outwitted us. Hiring two men with a chair 
supported on long handles, she had by a near cut reached 
the spot before us. In the grotto, hewed into the solid, 
eternal ice at great depth, we found a woman with lighted 
tapers, and making between her voice and a queer instru- 
ment music which anywhere else than in an ice mount- 
ain would have been ordinary enough, but which here 
was really charming, and which helped to heighten the 
fairy-like effect of the whole scene. After a substantial 
dinner we returned rapidly to Interlaken, and were soon 



16 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

off by Lake Thun en route for Berne. It stormed severe- 
ly while we were on the lake, and was dark when, we 
reached Berne. In pleasant weather this is a very enjoy- 
able journey, but to be caught in a storm on one of these 
illy-contrived lake steamers is any thing but agreeable. 
In nothing is America ahead of Europe more than its 
steamboats. 

Berne is situated on an elbow of the Aar, is a hand- 
some city built of freestone, noted as the capital of the 
Swiss Eepublic, and for its arcades, museums, and hears. 
But time with us was inexorable ; we could not stop to see 
even the u bears,'' and took an early train for Lausanne, in- 
tending to go thence by boat directly to Geneva. It was 
hard to pass through Freiburg and not stop to listen to its 
world-famed organ ; it was harder still not to stop at Lau- 
sanne, lying so exquisitely on Lake Geneva, and see among 
other noted places the house in which Gibbon wrote his De- 
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire. They who have but 
ten days to spend in Swiss land, and that, too, in a year of 
European war, must consent to take but a hasty glance at 
what might fill weeks of close observation. A sudden notion 
struck us, as we reached Lausanne, to take train up the lake 
as far as Yevay. Here we hired a hack and drove to 
Clarens. The road from Lausanne was along the edge of 
the lake, through pleasant villages and by continuous vine- 
yards, which overhung and studded the precipitous or 
gently sloping hills. The hills were regularly terraced, in 
some instances the soil seeming only a bed of pulverized 
rocks. The best grapes grow in these barren places, with 
a hot southern exposure. The precious fruit was ripening, 
and abundant harvests were expected. The markets of 
Geneva were abundantly supplied with qualities of great 
sweetness at the low price of a few centimes a pound. A 
much frequented route to Chamouni is directly on by this 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 17 

road as far as Martigny. From Martigny the ascent is 
made to Great St. Bernard, and also by carriage and 
mules around to Chamonni. This would have been our 
way had not one of our ladies been unable to ride horse- 
back. "We stopped at Clarens, but could not go so far even 
as the Castle of Chillon, rendered famous by the sojourn of 
Lord Byron and the verses he wrote about it and its tradi- 
tions; and so, making the best of our opportunities, we 
took steamer for Geneva. Clarens is a great resort for 
English and American families, many preferring its situa- 
tion and climate to any thing in Europe, especially in the 
winter season. We felt a tender sadness in pressing its soil 
at the recollection that here so recently had died our cult- 
ured and devout friend, the Rev. Archibald C. Foss. All 
the way from New York, located here with his family for 
physical and intellectual improvement, it pleased God to 
deny his earthly hopes, and to take him to a realm of purer 
air and richer beauty than exists even on the shores of 
this wondrous lake. 

Nothing could have been more delightful than our sail 
down the lake. The steamer was large enough and swift 
enough to satisfy us. She cut the water like a thing of 
life. The water, so blue and clear, lent a charm to every 
thing. This was the realization of a dream far back in 
boyhood, when Lake Geneva, with its vine-clad hills, its 
brilliant skies, its distant mountains, its boats with their 
picturesque crews and quaint triangular sails, waters of 
azure, and villages of roofs and spires, seemed to childish 
imagination just the acme of terrestrial glory. The actual 
did not disappoint us. How I longed for one look at the 
town of Nyon, the birth-place of the saintly Fletcher. Di- 
viner thoughts by far would have been recalled than to have 
seen the house where the infidel Gibbon meditated his 
brilliant periods, or the castle where the libidinous Byron 

2 



18 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

penned his passionate verses.. Methodism owes a debt to 
the shores of this lake which it cannot pay until its pure 
and simple faith shall have sounded, as it is doing in Zurich 
and a few other places, all through this land, and the 
people of John de la Flechere shall have heard its glad 
tidings. By night we landed on the quay of Geneva, and 
found comfortable lodgings at the Hotel des Bnrges, directly 
on the lake and immediately on a line with Rousseau's Island 
and the superb bridge of Mont Blanc, stretching with its 
rows of bright lamps to the farther shore. 

Geneva is not only the largest, but also the handsomest 
city in Switzerland. Indeed, we can hardly conceive of a 
handsomer city in the world. Brussels approaches it ; the 
two have points of resemblance, and recall each other; but 
for variety of scenery and elegance and general effect, of 
all places give us Geneva. No wonder it is a point of 
universal attraction. Fortunate it is for political exiles 
that its government grants them an asylum ; fit town it is 
for evangelical alliances, peace congresses, and conventions 
of arbitration. No set of men could sustain a chronic 
quarrel if they would allow themselves to be affected by 
its surroundings. "Wily, a feeling of reconciliation with 
every body and every thing, and yourself too, comes right 
over you ; one only bad result of which is, your pocket is 
apt to suffer — you wish to be buying and giving all the time. 
Well, what of its beauty ? The lake and the river Rhone 
divides it in two. The waters retain all their blueness 
and purity, pass very swiftly, and give out as they flow a 
perpetual rippling sound; and while they are beautiful by 
day, at night, under the quiet moonbeams and the hun- 
dreds of brilliant gaslights, with the noise of geese and 
swans, the effect is greatly heightened. Crossing at vari- 
ous points are bridges, some of which are specimens of the 
finest architecture. On all clear days mountains covered 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 19 

with snow can be seen, and on some clays, in certain posi- 
tions, Mont Blanc can J>e distinctly discerned with the 
naked eye. The environs are rolling without being too 
precipitous, and the houses in the new parts of the town 
are well and tastefully built. One object of interest is to 
the south of the town, where the Arve and the Rhone flow 
together. Alighting within the grounds of a goodly cha- 
teau, we were conducted by a youthful guide to a point 
whence could be seen to greatest advantage the confluence 
of the rivers. The Rhone, rising in the Canton of Yalais, 
not far from the sources of the Rhine, has made its way 
from the Furca Pass, about 5,904 feet above the level of 
the sea, until it has emptied into Lake Geneva at its 
eastern extremity. Hitherto a muddy mountain stream, 
its color and quantity changed and augmented by its pas- 
sage through the lake, it now issues from the lake in great 
purity and volume, and just here, a mile and a half below 
the town, is met by the Arve, which, descending through 
Savoy from the glaciers of Chamouni, is a dirty, yellowish 
stream ; and as the two join, their waters flow side by side, 
preserving their distinct colors for some time, until at last the 
turbid Arve conquers, and henceforth the Rhone rolls on its 
course of three hundred and sixty-five miles, a muddy river, 
till it is lost far away in the great Mediterranean. We re- 
membered a year before to have heard Mr. Punshon use this 
very scene as descriptive of the meeting of the great forces 
of the world and Christianity ; and as the waters of the one 
subdued the waters of the other, he said, so shall the Christian 
religion change into its own nature the things of this world. 
Another illustration occurred to us. That junction was 
the first meeting of a youth with the stream of worldly 
temptations. Heretofore pure in his principles and habits, 
he struggles hard for independence ; but sooner or later 
yielding to the power of evil, he is overborne by wicked- 



20 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

ness, and henceforth, corrupted in character, he continues 
in sin until his life is whelmed in the ocean of eternity. 
The ride thence to the south-eastern part of the city is 
the most entertaining. A short distance is Ferney, where 
Yoltaire resided. What was a villa of a few houses has 
now grown to a large village. The room which the great 
author occupied is still shown as he left it. A mighty 
genius ; but his work was destructive. The symbol of an- 
other genius more amiable and less destructive was just in 
front of our hotel, on the Isle du Rhone, the monument of 
Rousseau. But it is to the shrine of Calvin that the Prot- 
estant traveler turns with true reverence. Almost the first 
object we sought was old St. Pierre, the Cathedral, which 
was the cradle of the Reformation, and the scene of 
John Calvin's preaching and triumphs. It is supposed 
to have been built as early as the tenth century, stands sur- 
rounded by very narrow streets and dingy buildings, is 
surmounted by three towers, on one of which is a musical 
clock, and is in the form of a Greek cross. The original 
Gothic portal was replaced in 1749 by a modern Corin- 
thian front. There are no objects of interest within except 
the tomb of Theodere Agrippa D'Aubigne, a warrior and 
learned theologian, friend of Henry IY. of France, and 
the original pulpit in which Calvin preached. Not far from 
here we found a gallery in which were two remarkable 
pictures: the one a Yisit of Farel to Calvin in 1564 — 
Farel then extremely old and Calvin dying, but the 
Reformation accomplished ; the other Antoine Fromment 
Preaching in the Fish-market, by Molard. When Farel 
had been expelled from Geneva, Fromment kept alive the 
flame he had kindled. This is a painting of graphic 
power. Koblemen, ladies, fishmongers, laborers, children 
in one confused mass, listening with distended eyes, grit- 
ting teeth, and clinched fists, or wondering and question- 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 21 

ing to the earnest words of the Reformer. Those were 
times when the fate of individuals and of nations hung 
upon single sermons. Close by, at 8 Rue Egnard, in a 
lower flat of a handsome freestone house, was the residence 
of Merle D'Aubigne, the historian of the Reformation. 
Through the politeness of the lady in charge, we saw his 
apartments, parlors, library, sitting and bedroom. The 
rooms were commodious, neatly but simply furnished. 
The books were not overabundant. On the wall hung an 
old portrait of his great ancestor with these words inscribed 
in Latin : u I would rather rule in a corner of France than 
have crowns with the Pope's feet on my head." D'Au- 
bigne himself was away at Mornay Montagne, his country 
residence. The lady assured us if we could call on him 
he would receive us very kindly, as he was deeply inter- 
ested in America. She spoke most highly of the great 
man's habits of personal devotion and zeal. The Russian 
Greek Chapel, on Promenade di St. Antoine, is a curious 
and rich building, with its four gilt turrets glittering in 
the sunshine. We did not visit Calvin's grave or schools. 
The shops and markets attracted us not a little : on the 
delicious grapes we feasted, and were successfully tempted 
to an investment in jewelry and music boxes. 

Shall we attempt Chamouni ? was the recurring ques- 
tion. Three days at least must be given to it, and up to 
this time, August 31st, we did not know by what route 
we should return to London. To go back through Paris 
would give us a little more time, and to go around the 
way we came, by Cologne and Brussels, would hardly 
admit of a further stay in Geneva. But Paris was on 
the verge of revolution. What to do perplexed us. At 
last, make or break, we will see the Valley of Chamouni 
and Mont Blanc. We had sacrificed many cherished ob- 
jects ; this we would not deny ourselves. Accordingly, 



23 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

early on the morning of the first of September we mounted 
the banquette of one of the regular diligences, and amid the 
cracking of whips were off toward the fair vale. A few 
miles from the city the road enters Savoy and follows the 
valley of the Arve. The scenery is not highly picturesque 
until you reach Bonneville, where it becomes narrower 
and wilder. The face of the valley is undulating and 
under fair cultivation. Fruit trees abound, but, if possible, 
beggars are more abundant. The coach is ever and anon 
infested with these beings, who, stretching forth poor fruit 
or poorer flowers, clamor for your sous. Along this 
route the first cases of goiter and cretinism came distinctly 
under our notice. Pitiable it was to behold these miser- 
able, half-witted creatures, with their swollen necks, ex- 
hibiting their wretchedness as a plea for alms ! This dis- 
ease is peculiar to high mountainous regions ; but we should 
prefer not to regard its causes as wholly atmospheric. 
Abuses arising from an extremely low pauper condition 
must have much to do with its continuance and aggrava- 
tion. This ride, as also the one over the Brnnea: Pass, 
possesses great interest for the geologist. The stratified 
rocks rise like huge walls as you drive, in some places 
looking almost like the work of human design. At St. 
Martin and Sallenches the great mountains came full in 
view. There they stood, like mighty sentinels, in solitary 
M T hiteness, shining in the noonday rays with almost daz- 
zling brightness. The diligence stopped at the St. Gervais 
baths, where, after dining, the company were transferred to 
hacks for the ascent of the Pass. This was an agreeable 
change from the old lumbering stage-coach. Nothing 
could exceed the smoothness of the road over the mount- 
ain. It was remarked, " Here you see, as you look at that 
old road down there so rough and steep, and then at this, so 
smooth and easy in its grade, the work of Napoleon." And 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 23 

sure enough, as we approached a tunnel finely cut and 
arched, over its entrance was "Napoleon III., 1855." 
Napoleon may have misgoverned France, but he made 
good roads. 

Our first sight of the famed valley, as we emerged 
into it, disappointed us, it was so much smaller than we 
had supposed. It lies in a direction from north-east to 
south-east, is about twelve miles long and from one to six 
wide, thinly populated, and not very productive. It 
looks the smaller for the immense height of the sur- 
rounding mountains, and is all the more wonderful for 
size, verdure, and beauty when its position in the heart ot 
this w T aste of mountains and snow is considered. We 
obtained the best rooms at the Hotel cFAngleterre, looking 
toward Mont Blanc. We w r alked out and took our stand 
in the burial-ground of an old Catholic church, whence 
we gazed and gazed till sundown up at these greatest of 
the Alpine ranges. Here is a quotation from our note-book, 
made on the spot, beneath a hasty outline of the contour 
of the mountains : " Six o'clock P. M. One of the most 
magnificent sights possible. The atmosphere perfectly 
clear; the sun gone down back of the opposite mountain, 
and here, in the valley, I look up to these mountains clad 
in everlasting snow. Around a sweet rural scene — flowers 
blooming, fruits ripening, the bells of sheep and cattle tink- 
ling. It. and L. have just gone to the hotel, and I go too. 
Sorry to leave the spot. Saw the last rays of the setting sun 
fall on Mont Blanc at ten minutes to seven o'clock : beau- 
tiful roseate tints ; moon a quarter full above." We seemed 
to feel as we sat beneath the jagged peaks, so near and so far, 
with such an awful quiet all around, as though in God's 
mightiest Gothic cathedral, where our only worship could be 
the "silent awe which dares not move." Yet it was impos- 
sible to realize the vastness of these mountains because of 



2i Ten Days in Switzerland. 

their very nearness. Like the greatest events, they must be 
seen at a distance for their magnitude to be fully appreciated. 

We were favored the next mornino* with another clear 
day ; and now our preparations were quickly made for 
the tour to the great glacier, Mere de Glace. But one 
of the ladies could go, and so we set off on mules, with a 
guide, to see this great wonder. From the higli points, as 
we ascended, the real beauty of the valley could be seen — ■ 
a line of emerald it seemed, with here and there streaks 
and dots of silver. The great glacier is said to be fifteen 
miles long and of variable width. We crossed it, and 
returned without descending the Mauvais Pass on the 
other side, as accounts we had heard at the hotel of its 
peril had rather intimidated us. To explore these glaciers 
in their whole extent is a difficult and dangerous feat. 
Almost every season parties are lost. Just before we 
arrived a young bride, separated for a few minutes from 
her husband and his guide in the ascent to Mont Blanc, in- 
duced her guide, though against the chief guide's caution, 
to explore a little way, when, in the attempt to follow, she 
slipped through a crevice, fell, and was never again heard 
from. Oar trip up and back occupied about six hours, 
and was well worth all our pains and aches. That night 
was spent in sauntering among the shops of the village 
examining the strange curiosities wrought in wood and 
stone. A cane and a few set stones of real beauty was all 
we could take away. 

Another lovely day dawned, affording a magnificent 
sunrise over Mont Blanc, and a bracing, clear air for 
traveling. We took our departure early by the same 
line we had come. Having spoken for the front 
banquette, we had it finally to our heart's content. When 
about two thirds of the way to Geneva a driving rain- 
storm overtook us. The guard, who sliould have looked 



Ten Days in Switzerland. 25 

after our comfort, ensconced himself on the inside of the 
coach and left the travelers to take care of themselves. The 
wind blew furiously, the rain fell in sheets, and the 
.lightning at times was well-nigh blinding. Away went 
our umbrella, stripped from its stock like dry leaves in 
autumn. We all got very wet, and were in a wretched 
plight when we arrived at the hotel in Geneva. Through 
the kind services of servants we were soon rendered com- 
fortable. We congratulated ourselves on the superb weather 
we had been favored with to visit Chamouni. 

The morning found us well, and prepared to relish 
a Sabbath in the city of Calvin. It had escaped us 
that there would be service in English at St. Pierre, so 
we did not go to church till the hour for native 
worship. M. Birt preached a sermon in French. He 
is a tall, handsome man, with a powerful and well- 
modulated voice ; his action not excessive, and expressive. 
He followed the uniform Continental method and used no 
notes. It was communion day. After M. Birt had 
read the service he and three other aged ministers, all in 
black gowns, who sat opposite the pulpit on elevated 
chairs at one end of the transept, descended and went 
inside the altar under the great window. The elements 
having been previously prepared, they took them, conse- 
crated them, and distributed them among themselves. 
Then standing, the four in a row, with the elements in their 
hands, the congregation advanced two by two, dividing to 
the right and to the left, while a precentor led the people 
in some familiar tunes accompanied by the organ. The 
men all communed first, and afterward the women. It 
was a great privilege thus to be allowed to commune 
with the followers of John Calvin in this great source 
and center of their and his power. A month before some 
of our party had communed at City Road Chapel, the 



26 Ten Days in Switzerland. 

fountain of Wesleyan Arminianism, and now we had 
enjoyed the same gracious benefit in the Church of Calvin. 
How. slight did party names and theological formulas 
appear as thus, at the Master's own table, we were permit- 
ted to imbibe that deeper spirit of love which is the true 
bond of unity among all believers. A story is told that 
once a company had started on a sail over this same beau- 
tiful lake of Geneva. The morning had not yet dawned, 
and one by one they were admiring the stars and selecting 
their favorites; and while yet descanting on their several 
and separate peculiarities, lo ! the sun himself arose in 
golden beams over the mountain tops, when the stars faded 
out of sight and all were equally wrapped in the glory of the 
sun. So it is with our Luthers, Calvins, Wesleys: they do 
well to entertain us until our Christ and Saviour appears ; 
before his name and his person all names and all persons 
sink into obscurity. That evening was one of intense ex- 
citement in Geneva, as indeed it was in Paris, Berlin, Lon- 
don, and New York. The report was flashed to us — 
" Sedan has fallen ; the Emperor Napoleon is a prisoner." 
Thrones were falling $ all Europe quaking ; but how to get 
to London was the grave question with us poor innocents. 
Paris has declared for a Republic — Marseilles — Bordeaux 
— such were the rumors. 

Monday morning came, September 5th ; no more tarry- 
ing was admissible ; we had barely time to reach Liver- 
pool for the day of sailing if we had to return by the 
Rhine. "But France is a Republic, and a Committee 
of Safety is appointed. We are Americans ; Repub- 
lican France must respect us ; we go to Paris." And we 
did. As the train glided away, and old Mont Blanc faded 
from sight, we said, Farewell most beautiful of lands — the 
fountain of coolness, of fertilization, of moisture, of beauty, 
and political bravery to all Continental Europe ! 



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